Tagged: Bryce Harper

I fully intended on this blog being about how my boys are trying to get back into the race, having taken the series against the Braves. Then a fight broke out. I hate baseball fights. I know a lot of people actually love the excitement, but I hate them. And today’s was a doozy. The excuse is usually some old score that needs to be settled or bad blood between players or teams. So silly. To me that’s something that three-year-olds do, and it’s just testosterone run rampant. There are so many reasons why today’s melee was stupid. I think I feel one of my lists coming on…

Hunter Strickland obviously hit Bryce Harper on purpose. I don’t think anyone can deny that. That’s what makes this fight more heinous than most. Of course he’s saying that since Harper had hit two bombs off him that he wanted to go inside, but come on. We know for some stupid unwritten baseball law reason you have to say that, but no one believes you. And even though he probably aimed for his hip, you know that guys have been hit in the head that way and injured. Even though Bryce Harper has a reputation for being a jerk, I don’t blame him for going after Strickland. Strickland is definitely a hothead – it took three of his teammates (Pence, Williamson, and Kontos) to literally lift the guy off the field.

The incident Strickland was retaliating for happened 3 YEARS AGO! And it’s not Harper’s fault he hit two homeruns off of Strickland in the playoffs – it’s Strickland’s fault for leaving pitches where Harper could launch them. Even if Harper did watch his homeruns for a bit, Strickland let it get to him, so much so that he held that inside and felt the need to retaliate 3 YEARS LATER!

Any time there is a fight on the field, it’s a total distraction for the rest of the game. Not to mention that we lost one of our relievers in the process when Strickland was ejected. That’s exactly what this team doesn’t need when they’re trying to come back from a 3-0 deficit.

When you instigate a fight, you are putting your teammates at risk of injuring themselves as well. Did you see the crash between Samardzija and Morse? They weren’t even fighting each other. There is always a pile on and guys have seriously been injured in the past this way. Way to be selfish, Strickland.

All the hoopla surrounding the fight took the focus away from an amazing start that Matt Moore had today. He pitched a full 7 innings allowing only 2 runs. Unfortunately, with the way our guys have been hitting, and with THE HUGE DISTRACTION OF A SENSELESS FIGHT, they weren’t able to come back and win it for him.

Today’s game was played in honor of Memorial Day. Yeah, I guess that message was lost.

Now that Strickland hit Harper, you know the Nationals will retaliate at some point during this series. It’s another one of those unwritten, stupid baseball rules. And you know who they’ll retaliate against – our star player, Buster. After Harper got tagged, you could almost hear him saying to himself, “Great. I’m next.” Maybe that’s why Buster didn’t get involved in the fray – he was ticked off that Strickland put him in that situation. It was also a smart move on his part because we don’t want him taking any chances and getting hurt, especially in a fight that has nothing to do with him. And I think that’s why the main focus was separating Strickland and Harper and not other guys getting into it – it’s between them only and not the two teams.

Not only did the stupid fight affect this game, it will affect at least the next two games. Pitchers will be warned that if a player is hit by a pitch, they will be ejected from the game. That’s just what our pitchers need on their plate right now – more to be stressed about on the mound. Thanks, Strickland.

Finally, I feel like we were all jipped out of an intriguing at bat. I was looking forward to the rematch. I assumed that Strickland had matured since back then, and that since his pitching had evolved in the last three years he would give Harper a run for his money. After all, wouldn’t the best revenge be striking the guy out? But no, we didn’t get that opportunity.

The only positive from the fight was that I learned a new Krukism – donnybrook. He kept using this term during the fight and I had no idea what it meant, so I researched it. According to Merriam-Webster, a donnybrook is a usually public quarrel or dispute. The word just sounds like one that Kruk would make up, but he didn’t. The word has its origins in Ireland. The Donnybrook Fair was held every year in a suburb of Dublin from the 13th through 19th centuries. It was well known for the vast quantities of alcohol consumed there, and thus also became associated with huge drunken brawls, so much so that a free-for-all fight became known as a donnybrook. So now you know.

Let’s take a break from all the excitement and switch gears to something more entertaining – 2 new spit counts! Here you go:

May 27th

Giants:

Hundley 6

Law 5

Meulens 3 (seeds)

Belt 3

Span 3

Hill 2

Parker 2 (seeds)

Bochy 2

Nuñez 1

Posey 1 (seeds)

Nevin 1

Panik 1 (sigh)

Hernandez 1

Samardzija 1 (seeds)

Braves:

Markakis 1

Inciarte 1 (into batting glove)

Phillips 1

Ruiz 1

Washington 1 (seeds)

Krol 1

Flowers 1

Peterson 1

Game Spit Master General = Hundley at 6

That’s a total of 40 spits during a 2 hour and 30 minute game for an average of 1 spit every 3.8 minutes.

The Braves pitcher, Mike Foltynewicz, didn’t spit at all, but he did get caught launching a snot rocket once. On a happy note, Ty Blach pitched today and didn’t log a single spit! There’s hope I’ll have a new Thank You For Not Spitting Award recipient this season!

May 28th

Giants:

Cueto 15

Nuñez 3 (1 of these was seeds)

Belt 2

Meulens 1 (seeds)

Hernandez 1

Gearrin 1

Wotus 1

Braves:

Phillips 1

Ruiz 1

Peterson 1

Markakis 1

Misc.:

Umpire (Rob Drake) 32 (!!!!!!!)

Game Spit Master General = Drake at 32

Giants Game Spit Master General = Cueto at 15

That’s a total of 60 spits during a 2 hour and 30 minute game for an average of 1 spit every 2.5 minutes (new season record).

Once I heard that Rob Drake was going to be umping behind the plate I knew it would be a high spit count game. He outdid his 10 spit performance of April 22nd but still did not eclipse his all-time record of 40 set on August 24, 2012. If it wasn’t for the spitfest going on between Johnny Cueto and Rob Drake, this would have actually been a very low spit count day. On a positive note, Matt Kemp of the Braves wasn’t caught for a single spit even though he played in both games I counted against the Braves. When Kemp played for the Dodgers, he would always be the Game Spit Master General. Kudos to you, Matt Kemp! Glad getting away from the boys in blue has had a good influence on you (of course it would!)! Also wanted to mention that I loved how the K’s during this game (the strikeout markers) all had dreadlocks on them in honor of Dia de Cueto!

Going to end with something that will make Angel happy. During the games, did you see the Buster Posey commercial with the puppies??? So amazingly adorable! I’ve tried to find it on the internet but with no luck. I’ll keep looking and hopefully post a link next time. Angel and I are planning on going to that game and getting our own Buster hugs blanket. The boys need to try and put this fight thing from today out of their minds (Thanks, Strickland!!!) and focus on winning games again. Just keep taking those baby steps and trying to win series. If they can just win 9 of 12 series from now until the All-Star Break they can go into the second half of the season with a .500 record and take it from there. And who knows – maybe they can even log some sweeps! It can happen! I have faith in these guys! Until next time, GO GIANTS!! NO MORE DONNYBROOKS AND KEEP TAKING THOSE SERIES!!